According to police, three buses of a company were standing at a bypass road in Chatra district when criminals poured kerosene on them and set them on fire early on Friday. All the three buses were gutted.

Police recovered a pamphlet from the torched bus site, with the ‘Tiger Group’ claiming responsibility for the incident.

The pamphlet says that denial of extortion is the reason for the incident.

The owner of the bus claimed that he has suffered Rs 1 crore loss. The buses were new and were plying from Ranchi to Sasaram in Bihar, via Chatra.

In the past Maoist guerrillas used to torch vehicles after being denied levy.

This is the first time that a criminal group has claimed responsibility for such an incident.